


Peter Parker's Problematic Adventures in Procrastination

by prettycheese21



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Father Figures, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, May is so confused, Peter Parker is not organized in the least, Tony is a Father Figure don't tell me he's not, and fed up with Tony's crap, procrastination, request, to the extreme
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 04:02:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13651017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettycheese21/pseuds/prettycheese21
Summary: Peter gets a bit overwhelmed. He decides the best way to deal with is to just... not deal with it. This coping mechanism works about as well as one would expect, that is to say disastrously. Tony is quickly informed of what's happening and decides to fix it himself.





	Peter Parker's Problematic Adventures in Procrastination

**Author's Note:**

> Anon: “can you write a one shot of Peter being extra clingy and cuddly but Tony doesn't mind until he gets suspicious and turns out Peter is guilty of something? Please?” 
> 
> I got this request way back in November.... I'M SoRrY I'M SuCH a FaILUrE  
> Anyway, I modified this request slightly since I personally couldn't see Peter being that physically affectionate, but I hope this still lives up to expectations!

   “Can I stay here this weekend?” Peter asked offhandedly one day after a training session. “I have some homework and stuff I need to do, and I can't really concentrate at home.”

   Tony knew that was a totally bogus excuse, but he wasn't about to call him out on it. He enjoyed having the kid around. He had so much energy and he was a seemingly endless source of positivity. Instead, he said, “Sure. Let me know if you need any help. Believe it or not, I still know my way around a differential equation. If it's anything that's not science or math, though, you need to talk to Cap or Nat. Those two seem to know how to do everything else, especially history for some reason.”

   Peter laughed rather awkwardly. “Okay. Thanks, Mr. Stark.”

*****

   Tony wasn't sure exactly when Peter started spending more at the Tower than at home, but he was aggressively confronted with that realization when he got a frenzied phone call from May.

   “May! How are you?” Tony greeted brightly as he answered the phone, continuing to sketch a blueprint for… he wasn't exactly sure what it was. Evidently he'd started the original set of sketches when he was half-awake and severely sleep deprived. 

   “Is my nephew alive or have you and the government been trying to find a way to cover up his death?” May asked. 

   Her question caught him off guard. Tony stopped what he was doing and countered with a question of his own. “What? Yes, Peter’s alive. Why would you ask that?”

   “He hasn't been home in nearly a week. Not since your last fight with that giant blob thing down in Texas,” she explained. “And I saw some of that footage. Peter got thrown around  _ a lot,  _ and now suddenly I haven't seen him and he won't answer his phone?”

   Tony cringed slightly at the memory. Peter  _ had _ been thrown through more than a few buildings, enough to make him spend a couple of nights in the infirmary on strict doctor’s orders. “Yeah, that would be enough to make you think he died,” he mused aloud. 

   He was brought into the conversation by May asking, “Then where is he? Is he there?”

   He walked out of the lab to check in the room next door, where he'd seen Peter working on his homework earlier in the day. “Yeah, he's-” Upon entering the room, he found Peter asleep on top of what looked to be a Calculus textbook. Tony nearly aww-ed at the sight. 

   “He's what?” May prompted. “You got a little cut off there. Is he with you or not?”

   Tony didn't have the heart to wake Peter, especially when he looked so exhausted. He decided he'd cover for Peter just this once. “You know what? I just remembered he said something about heading to the library to study. It’s pretty loud over here. Not exactly a good studying environment.”

   She let out a sigh of relief on the other end of the line. “I'll call his phone then. Thanks.”

   “No problem,” Tony replied brightly as he grabbed Peter’s phone off the table and took it with him, knowing the kid kept his ringtone on as loud as humanly possible. He wasn't about to have May wake him up and cancel out his plan to let the kid sleep. “Though he might have his phone turned off to study, so I wouldn't be too worried if he doesn't answer.”

   “Of course he would. Alright. Thank you, Tony.”

   “Bye, May.” He said as he shut the door and hung up. He'd have to have a talk with Peter later.

   When later came and went, it was clear the conversation wasn’t going to happen. It was continuously put off for whatever mission happened to pop up that day. Honestly, if Tony had been aware he was putting it off, he wouldn't have been surprised. He should have seen that coming.

*****

   Tony wasn't sure when he should have been tipped off that something was wrong with Peter: when he got yet another phone call from May or the fact that it was about Peter’s grades of all things.

   He had to admit, he hadn't believed her at first. This was  _ Peter  _ they were talking about. Peter, who was basically a genius and had the grades to show it. Why on earth would May be so concerned about his grades?

   “I got a call from the school, Mr. Stark,” May had shot back when Tony all but laughed off her concerns. “They say he's not doing well in English and that I'd do well to check my email.” She scoffed. “As if I hadn’t been. It was like they were calling me a bad parent. It was awful.”

   “I don't see what this has to do with the kid,” Tony replied.

   She let out a sigh of annoyance. “I checked my email, and like I thought there weren't any emails from the school. On a hunch, I decided to check my trash and my spam just to see if somehow things got swept under the radar. Lo and behold, I have five different emails detailing an urgent need for Peter to get his grade up before the end of the trimester.”

   Tony still wasn’t quite catching on to what she was saying. “Not to belittle your frustrations, but does this rant have a point?” 

   He heard a noise that he couldn’t quite identify; he wasn’t quite sure if it was a scoff or an offended gasp. “I don’t know! Maybe... Maybe  _ you _ could talk to Peter? He seems to look up to you, though I’m not entirely sure why.” May muttered that last part to herself, though Tony heard it just fine.

   “Ignoring that mildly insulting comment directed at me, I’d be more than happy to talk to the kid. I’m sure this is all some big misunderstanding,” Tony assured her in his own lighthearted way before he hung up.

*****

   All it took was one question before Peter cracked, spilling the secret he’d been holding in for nearly a month and a half.

   “I’m sorry, Mr. Stark! I just got so swamped with all the training, and the missions, and- and then the homework just sort of caught up to me. And- And- And any time I tried to catch up, I’d just get so frustrated that I couldn’t focus and then that would stress me out-” Peter’s anxiety-filled rant was cut off by Tony.

   “Slow down, kid. What are you saying?” Tony asked.

   “I’m saying I’m failing English and I have a week to fix it or I’m screwed!” He put his face in his hands.

   Tony blinked, silent for a few moments. He was unsure of what to say. “Hold on. You’re… you’re failing English?”

   Peter blushed a bright red. “Yeah,” he squeaked out, clearly ashamed of his predicament.

   Tony shut his eyes and took a deep breath. “Okay. Okay, you know what? This probably isn’t as bad as you think it is. What did your teacher say you needed to do to fix your grade? Just turn in your missing work?” Peter nodded in response. Tony smiled and awkwardly began rubbing his back in an attempt to comfort him. “See? That’s not so bad. You can’t be missing  _ that _ much.”

   “I’m missing two essays, four analyzed poems, and I haven’t started on my final for the class that’s due on Friday,” Peter lamented as he looked up at him.

   Tony looked at Peter. “How much do you guys do at that school? You seriously did all of that in a month? Christ, kid. Things were different back when I was in school.”

   “Mr. Stark?” As if to say, ‘Do you have a point?’

   “Right, okay.” Tony took another breath as he scrambled to put together some advice for the kid. “You’ve got yourself in a real tight corner, kid. Even tighter than some of the ones I’d gotten myself into back when I was your age. I mean, you’ve taken procrastination to a whole new level.”

   “Mr. Stark-”

   “That being said,” he continued, cutting Peter off, “I’m willing to help you. I’ve mastered the art of bs-ing an essay in a few hours, which means we can those essays done tonight. If we budget our time right the rest of this week, we can everything else done on time.”

   “We?” Peter looked genuinely confused. 

   “Yes, we. You really think I’m gonna let you do all this by yourself? Besides, I’m a huge fan of…” Tony trailed off as he grabbed the paperback book off of Peter’s stack of school supplies. “Hamlet? Oh, come on!” He let out a dissatisfied groan as he slumped in his chair. 

   “You don’t have to help me out if you don’t want to, Mr. Stark,” Peter assured. “Really, it’s fine. I can do this myself.”

   Tony waved his hand dismissively. “And let you have all the fun? No way. You’re stuck with me.” He grabbed one of Peter’s notebooks and flipped to a blank page. Pulling a pen out of his pants pocket, he looks expectantly at Peter. “Where do we start?”

*****

It took two all-nighters and a morning cram session for Tony and Peter to get everything done. As Peter quickly packed up his bag, Tony handed him a stack of papers. “I can’t promise you an A, but with any luck it’ll get you a passing grade,” the older man said.

   “I really appreciate this, Mr. Stark. You have no idea.” Peter gave him a smile. 

   “No problem, kid.” An awkward silence lapsed as Peter finished packing up. The two stood there, as if waiting for the other to say something. A few moments passed before Tony seemed to find the words he wanted to say. “You know you can always come to me if you need anything. Like help with homework or bail money or girl advice or whatever.” He put his hands in his pockets, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with the intimate turn their conversation seemed to take. He just didn't want to see Peter back himself into another situation like this one ever again.

   Peter felt touched by the sentiment, so much so that he surged forward and hugged Tony. No one said anything as Tony tentatively returned the hug. They stood like that for a minute before Peter became suddenly self-aware that he’d hugged Tony without any sort of warning or consent and quickly pulled away. 

   “I, uh, I gotta get to school,” Peter explained quickly as he cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck as he tried not to physically express how socially awkward he felt in that moment. He took quick strides toward the door. As he reached the door frame, he stopped and turned around. “Thanks again, Mr. Stark.” Before Tony could respond, Peter was out the door.

   Tony smiled at the spot where Peter just was and said to himself, “You’re welcome.”

**Author's Note:**

> Like it? Want more?  
> Let me know by leaving a kudos or a comment!
> 
> Want to request something of your own?  
> You can do that in the comments here or on my Tumblr page (@notsoobviousfangirl).
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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